William x



(No Model.)

W. X. STEVENS. AUTOMATIC SWITCH.

7 Springpfetud mewwy. 62828888.8888, w @6%.

NiTED STATES AUTOMATIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION `forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,802, dated April 2, 1889.

Application filed November 17, 1888. Serial No. 291,100. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

e it known that I, WILLIAM X. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of railroad-switches which have a pivoted tongue whose point may be swung from side to side to guide the flange of a car-wheel to run to one side of the tongue or to the other side, according as the car is intended to follow the straight-line track or to turn off from .it 5 and the object of the invention is to provide means whereby a switch-tongue may be automatically turnedto the right or left at the will of the car-driver without slackening speed, in darkness or light, 0r even if the switch be entirely under water, as frequently occurs in. heavy rains.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming an automatic switch, part of which is located upon the road and part of which is carried upon the cars, as hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I represents a street-railway frog, showing the main characteristic of my invention. Fig. II represents a common style of street-railway frog for the sake of comparison. Fig. III represents, in side elevation, one form of that portion of my switch which is carried upon the cars, including, also, a railway-frog and a portion of a carin longitudinal vertical section. Fig. IV is a plan view of the drag. Fig. V is a plan view of the treadle with its box in horizontal section. Fig. VI is a vertical cross-section of my switch-frog at fc, Fig. I.

Fig. VII is a plan view of a portion of a frog, showing a inodilication of my invention.

VVIII is a longitudinal vertical section of the saine on the line z. Fig. IX shows a double switch for turning the cars either to the right or lett or allowing them to go straight ahead. Fig. X is a rear view of the treadle-box, showing the upper treadle-arm in cross-section.

Fig. XI is an under side view of the point of a tongue on a larger scale.

6 represents the body of the frog. and 7 the tongue of the switch, pivoted at 8 to the frog, so that its point may swing from side to side across the path of the car-wheel flange, as usual. This pivoted tongue is usually called the switch g but for sake of designation it will herein be called the tongue.

lO represents a notch eut into the rail 9, or into that portion of a frog corresponding to the rail, and 25 represents a similar notch cut into the inside guard, 24, of the frog.

ll represents a wedge to be carried upon each car to be dragged through the frog ahead of the car-wheel, and, by springing into the notch at that side of the tongue to which the car is to run, to wedge the tongue over into position to switch the car to that side. One of the many methods in which this wedge may be carried upony the car is shown in Fig. III, in which ll represents the wedge provided with a wheel, l2, projecting to one side of it to roll upon the track to carry the wedge at the height to engage the tongue and broad enough in its tread to remain on the track while the wedge travels an inch or more inside of the track, as at 2l.

13 is a treadle, pivoted at la in a boX, l5, which is secured to the front platform-of the car directly over the inside edge of the rail.

16 is the lower arm of the treadle, to which the wedge ll is attached by means of a dragbar, 17 .Y The parts Il, l2, and 17, taken collectively, are called the drag IS is a spring attached to thev arm IG and to some ixed portion of the car, and it acts constantly to lift the drag up out of danger when not in service, and also to lift the treadle up out of the way of passengers who may 0ecupy the platform. Both arms of the treadle ltit a vertical slot in the box l5, so guiding the treadle that when pressed down it carries the wedge directly down to the inner edge of the rail. Vere it not for this guiding-box the wedge would sometimes land on top of the rail and it might fail to work. The arm 16 also serves as a vertical journal on which the drag and the treadle may revolve alittle from side to side; but the groove in the box, before described, prevents this motion until the IOO treadle is pressed down below the sides of the groove, where it may pass either way under the knobs 10. If then set free, it will be raised behind the knob by the spring' 18. 'lhus the wedge will be held pressed either to the right or left as the trcadle is behind the right or left knob. There is sufficient elasticity in the drag-bar 17 to compensate for the rocking ot' the car and to maintain the wheel 12 upon the track when the dra-gis applied.

Let us suppose the ear to travel in the directimx indicated by the arrow 2() in Fig. I. Now, it' the treadle be pressed down and turned to the right, the wedge 11v will be pressed. against the rail and the bar 17 will still be under tension to spring it farther to the right, so that when the wedge arrives at the switch it will be sprung into the righthand notch, l0, and, passing beside the point oi the tongue, it will act between the wall of the notch and the tongue to wedge the tongue to the lett out ot' its path, thus turning the switch to guide the car to the right; but if the treadle be set to the left the wedge will becarried an inch orso from the rail, as shown at 21 until :it strikes the flaring mouth 22 of the jlfrog, when the drag-bar will yield as a spring until the left/*hand notch, 25, is reached, when the wedge will be sprung by the dragbar into that, and if the tongue be at that side it will be thrown to the right. The sides of the tongue-point and the walls of the notches are slanted under, as shown in Fig. VI, and the sides of the wedge 11 are slanted in the opposite direction, in order, iirst, that the wedge may hang to its work and not be forced upward out of engagement with the tongue and notch, even though the tongue` be stuck fast, and, second, in order that the action of the wfnlge may be to wedge the end of the tongue npwarifh so as to burst it loose from its bed onv the frog, whether it be frozen or otherwise stuck down, and in order that it may throw the tongue across while it is lifted free to avoid friction. The knobs 19 are not posi tively necessary to this invention, because the driver might hold the treadle pressed down and to either side with his foot; but the knobs are benelieial in holding` the drag as set, so that the driver may be at liberty after setting it to look to his car or horse.

On common streetcar tracks a notch threequarters of an inch into the side of the rail or frog beside the tongue is enough to admit the wedge, so that there is a portion of the track still left beside the notch for t-he wheel to travel on, thus avoiding any jolt in passing over the notch. Switch-tongues provided each with a spring generally attached to the pivot beneath the frog to bear the tongue constantly to one side of the frog to favor the principal travel are common, and in connection with a tongue so provided it would be only necessary to provide drags for those cars which must turn at the switch. In some eases, where the switch is seldom used, the wedge may be carried upon the car to drag into this notch by the drivers hand, and in such a case the common poker would answer the purpose of a drag. As nowused the poker has to be reached forward and del'tly thrust down between the tongue and rail at an open point, 23, and then given a twist by hand to move the tongue. My notches 10 and 25 would enable the poker to be used as a drag or wedge carried upon the car.

In some cases my invention would work to goed advantage by dragging a wedge Vupon the top of the rail near itsinner edge to slide down into the notch, as in the modification shown in Figs. VII and VIII. In both cases the principle of operation would be the sam e a notch in the rail or frog beside the switchtongue, and a wedge carried upon the car to drag into the said notch. It might be poss1- ble for a wheel with a wedge-shaped edge traveling upon the rail-like wheel 12, in line of the notch 10, or of the partii'lg between the point of thetongue and rail, to press down between the tongue and rail or frog, if the tongue had its corner beveled, so as to admit the entering wedge; but this would cause so much friction by downward pressure on the tongue that it would not be reliable.

Fig. IX shows a double switch in which two tongues are provided with springs, here concealed, to press them to each side, so as to leave the central line normally open. A car approaching this switch may set my drag to turn it either upon the right or lelt hand track, or by leaving the drag out of service the car will continue straight ahead. Should the tongue spring back before the passage of .the hind wheel of the car, a second drag may be placed in front oi the hind wheel and be connected with the front drag.

It is evident that any car may be l'n'ovided with one right-hand drag and one left-hand drag' to take the place of a single drag, here- IOO inbefore described, made adjustable for both right and left movement.

The principal characteristic of this invention is the notch in the rail or frog. r1`he wedge 1l might be a wheel or roller mounted on a downward-prejecting journal of the drag to roll against the side of the rail, the wall ol' the notch 10 being shaped as a wedge inclined toward the tongue, as shown.

In altering old frogs now in service it is a simple matter to counterbore the two opposing notches at once and round the end corners alittle with a cold-chisel.

The frog shown in Fig. II is common, having shoulders 27 to shield the front end of the tongue and to prevent the flange of the wheel from wedging behind the tongue after it is set; but this shoulder, forming a notch in the rail at the end of the tongue, should not be mistaken for my notches beside the tongue, which notches are always open whichever way the tongue sets.

In castin new frogs [for my switches I would eut away the pattern not only to cast the notches IO and 25, but I would also leave out all that portion ahead of the notch 25 and within the dotted line 26, thus opening the mouth of the frog directly into the notch 25. A 'liat piece of iron to drag upon the track in place of the wheel or roller I2 would answer the same purpose for a time, but would not operate as easily nor last as long.

I think that old frogs now in service could be altered to conform to my invention at a cost of fifty cents each for the machine-work, and it is evident that after slightly altering' the patterns new frogs may be made cheaper than the old by the weight of iron left out at the notches, and that each car may be iitted with my device at a net cost of one dollar. I think this amount would be saved to every car company every year in the one item of damage to horses, because when a car runs past its switch the driver must wait for help to back it, and the horse frequently gets tangled in the traces, kicks, and becomes balky. Besides this, the great convenience to the driver saves time on every trip, and the wedge dragging through the frog tends to keep it cleaned from dirt and snow. The power of this wedge, backed by the momentum of the car, is enough to burst loose a tongue frozen down or to crush a common stone in the frog.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

l. rihe combination of a railway-frog and a switch-tongue pivoted therein and having a portion of its side edges slanted under, the edge of the rail portion of the frog also being slanted under beside the tongue, the said two slanting sides forming an aperture which in cross-section is wedge-shaped, with the base of the wedge downward, and which in horizontal section is wedge-shaped, with the base of the wedge toward the point of the said tongue, substantially as shown and described.

2. A railway-switch tongue having a portion of its side edges slanted under near its point, substantially as shown and described, whereby the under side of the point of the tongue is made a more obtuse wedge than the body of the tongue is.

3. The combination of the wedge Il, the wheel 12, journaied thereto, and thedrag-bar I7, adapted to be hung to a car, substantially as shown and described.

4c. The combination of 'a switch-operating wedge, a wheel journaled thereon to roll on the track, and an elastic connection between the wedge and the car, substantially as shown and described,whereby the rocking of the car is compensated for and the wheel is maintained upon the track.

5. The combination of a switch-operating wedge hung upon a car and adapted to travel beside the rail, a device, substantially as described, upon the car for turning the wedge to the right and left, and a laterali helastic connection between the said device and wed ge, whereby the wedge is elastically pressed to the side of the rail, as set forth.

6. The combination of a rail or frog having' a notch in its side adapted to admit an operating-wedge, a switch-tongue located beside the said notch and pivoted to swing, a wedge carried upon a car, and a spring-connection between the wedge and the car, whereby the wedge is pressed upon the rail in a direction to engage the said notch, substantially as shown and described. y

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

IVILLIAM X. STEVENS.

"Witn esses:

WM. L. SPEIDEN, ALBERT SPEIDEN. 

